Student Activism, Social Change and Democracy since 1900

To what extent have students formed a distinct social category? In what ways have they linked their specific condition as students to demands for broader changes? And under what circumstances have they entered into alliances with the protagonists of social and political movements?This volume examines such questions. In doing so, it highlights the role of students as social and political actors who, alongside campaigning for their own rights, forged links with a variety of social movements and promoted competing visions of democracy. The book is distinct in the breadth of its coverage: it features national case studies from five continents, spans the entire twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and ranges beyond well-known episodes in the history of student protest. The book consciously understands ‘students’ as a flexible constituency, examining the collective action of school students alongside the efforts of college and university students.Student Activism, Social Change and Democracy since 1900 comprises fifteen essays by an international cast of authors. Taken together, their contributions explore student activism within specific local and national contexts while also revealing broader historical trends, patterns and constellations.